Chapter 25 - Max

Max watched as Sam hurried out of the house.  Her head was down casted; her breath was a little faster than normal.  Her usual signs that something was bothering her, that she was upset but didn't want anyone to know.  Pushing off the wall he had been holding up while waiting on her, he started towards her.  Even as he got closer, she didn't glance up at him once.

His heart went out to her.  He hated seeing her like this, hated knowing that she was in pain.  He could have prevented this from the beginning.  He could have done what he was paid to do, keep people from hurting her.  Instead, he let her make new friends without taking the normal precautions. 

"Sam," he whispered as he grabbed her arm.

She turned towards him, her eyes wide as she tried to keep tears from flowing from her eyes.  "I want to go home," she whispered before leaning towards him.

Not hesitating, he wrapped an arm around her and began weaving them through the crowd.  He could see the worried expression on some of their faces, but Max didn't stop at the questions in their eyes.  He didn't care what these people thought, didn't care if he was banned from every function for the rest of his life.  All that mattered was that Sam was in pain, and the only way to ease some of that pain was to take her home.

They reached the cars waiting for them, but when one of the chauffer nodded in their direction, Max shook his head.  He didn't want to take one of the limos, knew that Sam didn't want to be put on display any longer.  Instead, he eased her away from where all the limos were parked for their guests.  Walking further away, he smiled when he heard Sam gasp beside him.

"When'd you get it?"

Max tightened his grip on her with an affectionate side hug.  "You're father sent it to you, but you were already on your way here.  Kate brought it out.  It was supposed to be a surprise."

Sam glanced towards him; the tears she was trying to keep at bay finally fell down her cheeks.  Turning in his grasp, she wrapped her arms around him completely.  "Thank you," she sobbed.

Running a hand up and down her back in assurance, he rocked them back and forth.  "Shh," he whispered, "everything is going to be fine.  I promise."

"Promise," she asked, pulling back from him slightly. 

He smiled at the look she was giving him.  It was the same look that had got him from the beginning.  With Sam staring up at him like that, her eyes trusting and warm, he would promise her the world.  Leaning towards her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead just as he had done millions of times before.  "I promise.  Now," he said while pulling away from her, "let's get in that piece of junk you call a vehicle, and go home."

She chuckled under her breath, bringing a smile to his lips.  "Fine, but do not talk about her like that," Sam said in a joking tone.  "You know how temperamental she can be."

"Just like her owner," he mumbled under his breath as he dodged the smack she tried to give to his shoulder. 

"Sam!" a voice shouted, making them both freeze.  Max glanced over his shoulder, watching as Graham glanced around in attempt to spot them.

Max turned and took a step towards the man, ready to call back.  A hand on his arm stopped him.  Looking down, he saw something flash in Sam's eyes before she shook her head.  "Don't."  When he didn't say anything, her face dropped slightly.  "Please, just don't."

"Okay," he mumbled as he turned his back on Graham, "but you're going to have to deal with the two of them one day."

She nodded in agreement.  "But not today."

With a sigh, he dug into his pocket.  A key chain caught his eye, making him smile.  Reaching for her hand, he placed the keys in her palm.  "Take me where you wish," he joked as he pulled the driver's door open for her.  The old car door squeaked in protest, but managed not to fall off.

She jumped in with a large smile, and he knew that she wasn't taking them back to the home they lived in now.  No, she was taking them back to the home that they both grew up in, to the place where they both felt safe.  With a small chuckle, he ran around the car.  Just as he eased into the car, his eyes caught Graham's.  He slammed the door shut, wishing that he could have done something to ease the pain they were all feeling.  Even Graham and Scott had become friends in a way.  He didn't want any of them hurt, especially not Sam.

"You said anywhere," Sam said with a small, sad smile on her face.  "I think you're going to regret that statement."

Reaching up, he buckled his seatbelt, as he checked to make sure Sam had hers on.  "I never regret a visit to the family," he said in honesty.  "Haven't seen your dad in a while."

Her eyes cut to him as she started the engine.  Putting her eyes back on the driveway, she huffed.  "Don't pretend like you're not working for him."

"I'm not pretending," he said with a laugh, "but I haven't seen him in a while.  Last time, I met up with your mom and gave out the details."

A frustrated groan escaped her lips, making Max laugh harder.  "You didn't tell her everything, did you?"

Hearing the true frustration in her voice, Max shook his head.  "No," he promised.  "I thought you would want to tell them how you're feeling.  I didn't think I should tell them."

"Do you find it odd that they live so close together and haven't talked to one another in such a long time?" Sam said, and Max knew that she was trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.  "My parents and Scott's," she verified, as if he hadn't known who she was talking about.

"I know who you meant," he said as they pulled into a long driveway.  The gates parted for them before they even had a chance to stop.  Everyone recognized Sam's car, and everyone who knew her wished she would chunk the thing in a junk yard.  "I don't think it's odd," he answered, going along with her change of subject.  "I think, in a way, they find it comforting.  Even with them being so far apart, they're close together, you know?"

She glanced towards him sharply, but nodded along with his words.  "Yeah, I know what you mean."  The car eased to a stop, and Sam put it in park.  Still, she didn't cut off the engine, didn't move an inch.  "You know what?"

Snapping off his seatbelt, he turned towards her completely.  "What?"

"I refuse to be like them.  I won't be so close but so far apart from the people that I love.  I can't live like that, Max.  I've never been good at letting go of the people I love, and I refuse to start getting good at it now."

He laughed at her choice of words, but nodded along with the complete passion in her voice.  Reaching over, he unsnapped her seatbelt and pulled her into his arms.  "That's the Sam I know and love."

"I love you too," she mumbled into his chest just as a loud knock vibrated the car.  With a laugh, she pulled back from him.  "I knew he couldn't stay inside for long."

"Your father is a very impatient man," Max agreed as Sam's door was wrenched open. 

She let out a small yelp as she was pulled from the vehicle.  Max laughed as his hand reached out and turned her keys, cutting the engine off.  Shaking his head, Max eased his door open and jumped out on his own.  Pushing his door closed, he walked around the vehicle and closed the driver's door as well. 

Finally, Max glanced up and smiled as Sam's father twirled her around as if she were four.  Sam laughed along with her father, and a small twinge of sadness hit Max as he saw the complete happiness on their faces.  Hugging her tight once more, Mr. De Luca eased Sam onto her feet.  "I missed you, bambina."

Sam's face scrunched at the endearment, but the smile stayed on her face.  "I'm not a baby girl anymore."

Her father kissed her forehead just as Max had done earlier.  "You'll always be my baby girl."  Gripping her shoulders, he nudged her towards the house.  "Now hurry up and find your mother. I want to talk to Max about what you've been doing."

"He won't tell you everything," Sam called over her shoulder as she ran towards the house.  "I will later, after I eat."

Mr. De Luca let out a sigh as if he was annoyed, but Max could see the joy radiating off the man.  "She is a hand full."

"Yes," Max agreed. "She certainly is."  They both watched her run up the stairs, and when she made it safely inside, they finally looked away.  "Mr. De Luca, she knows."

The man frowned at Max.  "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?  You are a son to me, Max, part of the family.  You may call me by my name."

"Marcell," Max started, before seeing the man's eyes narrow further.  With a chuckle, Max conceited.  "Marc, she knows that I work for you."

"Yes," he agreed, waving a hand dismissively.  "She has known for a while.  She's smart, my daughter."  The pride in the man's voice was unmistakable, but the frown on his face worried Max.  "What happened, Max?  What made my daughter so sad?"

Max hesitated.  "I can't tell you," he said with a shrug.  "I love you like a family, but Sam is more important to me than you.  She doesn't want me to tell you; she wants to tell you herself."

"This is why I hired you," Mr. De Luca said with a sigh.  "You put her before anyone else.  Things would have been simple, no?"

Max nodded along with the words, understanding what Sam's father meant.  "It would have," Max mumbled as Mr. De Luca stepped towards him.  The man pulled Max into a quick, reassuring hug.

"You cannot change who you are," Sam's father told him as he pulled back.  "We love you just as you are."

"Even if I can't love your daughter like you want me to?  Even if she can't love me as anything more than a friend?"

The older man rolled his eyes as if that fact did not concern him.  "As long as you are both happy, my two children, I will have no worries."  Mr. De Luca turned towards the house.  "Now hurry up.  My wife is angry with you.  You haven't called in a week."

Max jogged to catch up with the man's quick strides.  "Things have been a little out of place," Max said as he finally caught up with Mr. De Luca. 

The small sense of sadness he had felt earlier died down.  This was his family, he reminded himself.  A smile curled onto his face.  No matter how crazy they appeared, he couldn't be happier that Sam had taken him in all those years ago, had made sure that there was always someone there to love him.